PLAYERS and club staff are expected to join friends and family of Partick Thistle kitman Ricky Roughan as he is laid to rest today.

The club was left devastated following Ricky’s death last week and former striker and co-manager Gerry Britton said his death has left a void at Firhill.

The funeral will take place today at 10.30am at Lambhill Crematorium on Balmore Road.

There was a minute’s applause before yesterday’s match against Hamilton Academical in tribute to Ricky.

Ricky and his great friend James "Chico" Reilly were a renowned double act in the corridors of the stadium, keeping players’ feet on the ground or picking them up off the floor as the occasion required.

After the sad death of his pal and sidekick last year, and now the death of Ricky himself, it is starting to sink in for those around the club just how much they will be missed.

Gerry, who knew Ricky for more than 20 years, said: “They were central to the whole atmosphere that this club has had for more than 20 years. It’s going to be difficult to replace that.

“Something will have to, because it’s easy to underestimate that and say that they were just the kitmen, and all they were doing was washing kit. They probably wouldn’t mind me saying it, but they probably weren’t the best kitmen in the world!

“That maybe wasn’t their best calling in life, but it was just their presence.

“What they did best over all the years was acting as the club psychologists. We didn’t have any employed, but that’s what they were.

“They worked out in their own inimitable way what people needed. If someone needed brought down, that’s what they were very good at, but on the other hand, if someone needed built up a wee bit they would do that too.

“Sometimes you would maybe see players that were out of favour and they would be in busting their chops saying ‘the manager is this or that’, so they were like agony uncles the two of them. They were great at that.

“In pressure situations they would lighten the mood, and just when things were a bit down they could lift the place. Former coach John McLaughlin, who is now at Celtic, used to say when we were going through a bad spell: ‘who motivates the motivators?’

"I was thinking to myself – that’s what they did.”

The affectionate way in which Ricky and Chico would dish out stick was not reserved for the players, with their legendary pranks keeping morale on a high throughout the club, no matter what was happening on the field.

Britton added: “In the last few days going down the stairs, you expect to be getting stick from behind one of the doors or see Ricky up to something.”

Ricky’s funeral will take place this morning at 10.30am at Lambhill Crematorium, Balmore Road.